How The Life Goes On
by sparrowlove
Summary: Starting soon after the Season 2 finale, Sayid and Jin lead a group to find Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, while Charlie, Claire, Hurley, and the others clear out the hatch
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST/characters, yadda yadda yadda.

That's really all there is.

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How the Life Goes On, Part 1

They had been clearing out rubble for nearly two days. When only Charlie came back from the hatch that afternoon, no one thought anything of it, though he did seem a bit shell-shocked. However, when it got dark and still no sign from the hatch, people began to worry. Especially after that noise and that… whatever that was. A small group- Steve (or was it Scott?), Rose and Bernard, and a few others were sent to see what was going on.

In the interim, Claire and Charlie tried to calm a breathless Hurley, who had come running into the camp as the last rays of sun went out over the horizon. He was yelling about all number of things and people- Kate and Jack and Libby and Walk and Others and birds and boats and so much that no one could follow it at all. It ended up that Charlie walked around with Aaron to try to stop him from screaming while Claire listened to Hurley's story. When the baby calmed down, Charlie came back and listened as well. When the tale was finished, Charlie stood up.

"Well, why are we waiting here then? Why don't we go after them?"

"Dude," Hurley said. "Didn't you hear what I just said? We can't."

"Charlie," Claire admonished gently. "Sit back down. We should at least wait for Sayid to come back. You don't even have a gun." Charlie obeyed and sat back down. Claire kissed him on the check. Aaron reached over and pulled his hair.

At the hatch, the group of survivors gazed in awe and horror at the sight in front of them. The metal door was crunched inwards as if some giant being had gotten angry and slammed into it his mighty fist.

Quietly, Bernard asked Rose, "Locke and Eko and… that other man, do you think they're inside?"

His wife answered, "I don't know, Sugar, but we're going to have to find out." Then she turned to another member of the search party and ordered, "Go back to the camp. Tell them what happened and ask them to come out here. We're going to need all the help we can get." The man headed back towards the camp as Rose continued to take charge, directing Bernard and Scott/Steve to work on prying off the door while she looked for anther entrance in case they couldn't get it off.

_Rose lay in bed, wondering where her life would go. The doctor had said that the cancer was terminal, and there was nothing they could do. He was sorry, he said. Well, Rose had replied that she was sorry too, but sorry wasn't going to change the fact that she was going to die. _

_On the way home, her husband had told her how proud he was that he had such a strong wife. But tonight, she didn't feel strong. She felt like a mule that could no longer haul cargo and was put out to pasture to await its demise. Rose didn't want that. She got up, careful not to wake Bernard, and went outside. She got into her car and drove into the night. Bernard woke up and saw his wife next to him. "Are you still awake Rose?" he asked. She mumbled something about driving and rolled over. Bernard kissed the top of her head and went back to sleep._

Meanwhile on the beach, Sayid, Sun, and Jin were docking the boat. Actually, Sayid and Jin were docking the boat. Sun was being violently ill. Pregnancy combined with the mouthful of sea water she got when Jin had turned the wheel suddenly on their way back didn't make a good impression on her stomach. When Sun was finished vomiting and the men had tied the boat up, they went to report to the rest of the survivors.

"There was nothing there. Nothing. No one. They'd all cleared out," Sayid told Charlie, Claire, Hurley, and the others.

"Nothing," Jin agreed, gesturing emphatically with his arms. He began to speak rapidly in Korean, and Sun translated.

"We believe," she said, "that this was a trap for those that the Others wanted." Then she added, "Sayid plans to go back and search the area for tracks that may show where they went."

"Yes," stated Sayid. "Where is John? I will need a good tracker."

"We don't know," replied Claire. "We're waiting for someone to come back from the hatch and tell us where Locke, Eko, and Desmond are." Sayid nodded and say on a log next to Hurley. Jin and Sun sat down together.

_Their first… date was awkward. First dates always are, but then most first dates don't involve frantically moving from place to place trying to keep the girl's father's employees from finding the couple and sending her home. Sun and Jin's first date did. They began at a small restaurant off of the main street of the city. It wasn't a very fancy restaurant, but it was all Jin could afford, and Sun didn't mind. _

_They sat together, not talking, waiting for a chance to leave. Sun had just spotted her father's chauffer and she knew that he was looking for her. She wasn't supposed to be out, especially not with a man of a different class. She didn't care, but she knew her father did. _

_Jin looked at Sun nervously. "Maybe we should just forget this," he said to his date. She shook her head. Then she reconsidered. _

"_Ok," Sun agreed. "I don't want you or me to get in trouble with my father." In a bold move, Jin kissed her on the cheek. Then, embarrassed, he dashed out. Sun smiled and went to find her father._

Less than ten minutes later, the man Rose sent back reached those waiting on the beach. After he explained the situation at the hatch, there came the question of what was to be done. Who would go back to the hatch, and who would be part of the rescue party to find Kate, Jack, and Sawyer? It was finally decided that, since the Others hadn't killed them right away, the captives probably weren't in immediate danger. However, the men in the hatch definitely were, if they were still alive, so everyone agreed to help at the hatch during the night, and reassess in the morning.

In the end, the decision was changed a bit, with Hurley, Charlie, Claire, Aaron, and Sun staying at the camp because of their shock (for the men), and the women's positions as new or soon-to-be mothers. The rest, including Sayid and- although he didn't especially want to leave his wife- Jin, started off.

After about 45 minutes, the group reached the hatch, where the people already there were clearing debris. They had removed the door and everyone could see a strange thing, except for the doors, which had been bolted into the walls, and the stove, which was affixed to the floor, all of the metal objects in the hatch had moved to smash against one wall.

"Find anything?" Sayid asked Bernard.

"Anyone, you mean? Not yet." The survivors continued clearing the hatch. They made piles outside of things they pulled out of the wreckage that could possibly be salvaged, and many more piles of things that were completely destroyed. The torches began to burn down, and there was no electricity in the hatch anymore, so the rescuers were working in near darkness. Every once in a while, there would be a muffled thump and a curse as someone fell over an unseen object.

Then, Jin shouted. Sayid made his way over to where Jin was lifting a heavy piece of debris off of Mr. Eko. When Sayid and Jin had moved the debris, they picked up Eko's limp body and carried him outside.

Sayid felt for a pulse. "He's dead," he reported. Rose got a sheet off of one of the hatch beds and covered the body.

"We should stop for the night," she said. "We can't see anything."

"No," argued Sayid. "See this door?" He pointed at the entrance to the computer room. "It's still closed, if destroyed some. If they were in there, they may still be alive. But we cannot leave them." Without another word, Sayid went back into the hatch and again began clearing it out by the light of the last torch.

_Men were screaming in pain and fear in Sayid's head as he walked past the burnt out building. He thought that the man who had set the fire had been arrested for war crimes, but he wasn't sure. All he was sure of was that 110 people had died in that fire, set by an American regiment, apparently not caring that 96 of those people were civilians, and that 28 of those were children, as long as they got their "terrorists"._

_Sayid thought of Nadia, wondered if they would consider her a terrorist. Wondered if he would ever see her again. _

_He walked on, trying hard not to look. Despite seeing every horror war had to offer, and taking part in many of them, violence of this nature still made him sick. He walked on thinking about the future. Perhaps he would go to the United States and find Nadia. Perhaps he would just keep moving. Travel the world until he couldn't travel any more. Just keep going. Don't stop, Sayid, he thought. Don't stop._

Slowly, silently, the others joined him.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank youto the two people that gave reviews, I really appreciate it and I'd love if other people would do the same. Here'schapter 2. I'm almost finished with chapter 3, so expect that one soon as well.

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How The Life Goes On Part 2

When day broke, the rescuers could see that they had made little progress. Around 5:30 am, Jin and Sayid began carrying Eko's body back to the beach. When they reached the others, Charlie saw the large, sheet-covered body. He tried and failed to hold back tears. Claire hugged Charlie sadly, also crying.

When they had finished, Sayid spoke. "I am going in one hour to hunt for the others and those of us whom they took. Bernard and Rose are coming with me. What are your plans?"

"I'm going with you," Hurley said. Sayid opened his mouth and then closed it again. Then Charlie said that he was going back to the hatch with Jin. Claire told him not to, but he said that he knew the hatch better than any of the other rescuers and that he knew where Locke and Desmond had been. At that point, Claire decided to go with Charlie. Sun said that she couldn't help because of the baby, but she would go and take care of Aaron.

The party split up with Jin, Sun, Aaron, Claire, and Charlie going back into the jungle and Sayid leading the way to Desmond's boat with Bernard, Rose, and Hurley.

_A large man sat in the hospital on a sofa. Next to him was a woman with dirty blonde, stringy hair. He spoke to her, but she didn't answer. The med student watched them next to the psychiatrist. "What's their story?" She asked him. _

_The doctor answered, "Well, the man was put here because he is emotionally unstable. He has hallucinations and hears voices. Completely harmless though. The woman is a different matter though. Killed her husband about six months ago. On their boat. They put her on trial and her lawyer had her plead insanity. I don't know why. There wasn't evidence to convict her anyway; the boat was gone." The student asked what had happened to it, and the doctor replied "She said she gave it to a stranger to race around the world. Most likely just more ramblings of a woman who is mentally unsound." _

_The student nodded and watched as the man on the sofa reached over to brush away the hair that had fallen into the woman's eyes. She slapped his hand away, and he said "Dude, don't hit." Then he turned to the empty chair next to him and said "No man, she's probably just tired."_

Once in the jungle, Charlie stopped abruptly. "Wait," he said. "This is bollocks. Mr- Mr. Eko's body. We can't just leave it out on the beach.

Sun replied, "There are two men in that hatch still who may be alive. We cannot worry about one man's body when his spirit is already gone when it would risk the lives of two more." This convinced Charlie and he started walking. The trip back to the hatch took longer than Sayid, Rose, and Bernard had taken to get from it, but this group had to deal with Aaron, who was screaming incessantly unless someone spun him around.

However, they reached the hatch eventually, where another discovery had been made. On the wall, looking as though it had been burned in with a hot piece of metal, was a… map? It was octagonal, covered in notations of math equations, bits of poetry, and pictures. No one knew what to make of it, but they didn't have time to sit and contemplate its meaning. A muffled voice was coming from the other side of the computer room door.

As quickly as possible, the group moved boxes and furniture out of the way. The door was easy to open, having been nearly knocked off its hinges (by the dynamite, Charlie explained). They pulled it open and John Locke stumbled out. His face was bloody and his eyes were wide. Claire screamed and everyone noticed Locke's legs. He could barely move them. One of the feet was almost torn off at the ankle and they were gushing blood from about 100 cutes and gashes all over.

He tried to stand up and Jin pushed him down. "No," he said. "Don't move." Charlie grabbed the sheets off of the top bunk bed and began to rip off strips of it. Claire tied them around Locke in tourniquets. When they had controlled the bleeding somewhat, they carefully carried him outside. While Charlie kept an eye on Locke and Claire took care of her child, Sun went to look in her garden for anything that might help Locke.

About 20 minutes after Locke had been found, the computer room had finished being thoroughly searched. There was no sign of Desmond. Jin was relaying this information to Charlie when Locke spoke.

"I… was wrong. He saved us down below. There's… a door." Then he closed his eyes and slipped into unconsciousness. Charlie went over to where the searchers were sitting.

"Guys, guys!" he said. "I think Locke just told us where Desmond is." He told then what Locke said and one man spoke up.

"Sounds like lunatic ranting. He's probably telling you Desmond's dead and in hell for trying to help us. 'down below'? Sounds like hell to me."

"And you are all just giving up? What's your bloody problem?"

"While you were with your girlfriend all night, we've been working. So don't expect us to keep going without a rest unless you want to be carrying more than just the bald guy back to the camp."

Charlie looked at them angrily, but knew they were right. He had been sitting at the beach while they worked. But he still had some faith in Locke, so he went alone back into the hatch. In the computer room, Locke had said that there would be a door that led "down below" and that was where Desmond went. Charlie walked into the room. He looked all around it. No door. He looked behind all of the equipment. No door. Then, he realized. Locke had said that it went down, so why, Charlie thought, "am I looking in the walls?" He began to stomp on the floor, listening for hollow spots, but the floor was too thick for him to tell.

There was only one thing left to do. Charlie got down on his knees and began attempting to pry up the floor. After breaking off three fingernails down to the skin, he found it. One of the stones in the floor lifted up with a creak. Charlie began yelling for help, and when a few of the rescue party came running, Charlie pointed at the hole and gave the man who argued with him a smug look. Then he climbed down into the darkness.

Claire handed him a torch. She offered to go with him, but he said that they had no idea where it went and it was probably too small for two people anyway.

"I'll keep talking so you can follow my voice back if you get lost under there," she said. Charlie smiled and kissed her quickly on the side of her face. Then he squatted down, torch in one hand, and crawled under the floor. Claire began to speak, telling Charlie about Aaron, and being on the island, and before the island, and anything else she could think of. She wanted to tell him everything especially right at that second when he couldn't see her and she couldn't see him. There were some things she was afraid to say while looking him in the eye.

_A young Australian woman sat in the gallery. People milled around but she felt alone. Her friend came and spoke to her, and she got up and went over to where the group of people was standing. _

"_Hi," she murmured to the artist who was being showcased. "I'm Claire. I love your work." He replied his thanks and they had a brief conversation about the oils that he used on one of his pieces. When he moved on, a young man approached her._

"_You like art?" he asked. Claire nodded. "Are you an artist?"_

_Claire shook her head. "No, are you?"_

"_Yes ma'am. I am. I'm Thomas. Nice to meet you." Claire introduced herself. They began to chat, and he didn't leave her side for the rest of the night. They talked about everything, and though they had very different interests (he liked football and she hated sports; she listened to classical and his favorite musician was Dave Matthews), they enjoyed each others' company. Thomas liked Claire's quiet sense of humor. Claire enjoyed his artistic knowledge. _

_When the evening was over, Claire was not surprised when Thomas asked her on a date, and he wasn't surprised when she accepted. However, as Claire walked home, a feeling of foreboding filled her. She brushed it off and continued on._

Claire was interrupted by a shout from the pitch blackness.

"I found him. Claire, I found Desmond!"

"Is he ok?"

"Well," Charlie faltered. "I don't think he's dead. But I wouldn't call him ok. He's not moving and he's barely breathing. I'm going to have to drag him out." He hooked his arms around Desmond's chest and began to pull him backwards. Then Charlie's head hit against something. He saw stars and for a moment, everything went black.

_The heroin began to kick in, and Charlie began to hallucinate. This ha__d never happened. Before he was sucked in, Charlie thought that it must have been mixed with something, LSD maybe. Then he quit having rational thought. There were colors all around him, and he thought he heard music coming from somewhere. He looked at the tattoo on his arm, and he heard the wordsas clearly as if he had just thrown his copy of Magical Mystery Tour onto the record player. He opened a newspaper, and the words flew at him off the page, and article about the new greenhouse near Hyde Park, exploding in song. _

_Then he turned the page to news of the war in the Middle East. Screams filled his ears as he read with blurry eyes of the destruction that was happening there. He whimpered, covering his ears and dropping the newspaper. He stumbled into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. The cold hit him like knives, and he closed it quickly. Suddenly, though he had been getting ready to go to a club, he didn't feel like going out._

_Charlie climbed into bed, still wearing all of his clothes, including his shoes. He fell into a fitful sleep. He dreamed strange dreams about… pinball machines and blenders, and other strange objects, and then he dreamed about nothing._

Charlie heard Claire screaming his name in a tearful sounding voice. He opened his eyes and couldn't see anything. The torch had gone out. He tried to move and felt a warm body on top of him. Claire? He put his hand on the body's cheek and felt stubble. Desmond. Charlie remembered where he was and moved himself so that he could begin dragging the Scotsman again.

"I'm alright, Claire," he yelled. "I just knocked my sodding head on a piece of rock. My light's gone out though. You're going to have to talk louder so I can get back." Claire began telling a story about talking to the pilot of their flight in an airport coffee shop. Charlie reached her and she smiled.

"Listen," he said. "There's no way to get him up by myself. If I lift him, can you pull him out?" Claire nodded and Charlie hauled Desmond up by his armpits. Claire grabbed him around the stomach. Charlie pushed his legs up over the edge. Claire put her head near Desmond's chest.

"He's alive!" she exclaimed.


	3. Chapter 3

How The Life Goes On Part 3

As the boat passed the four toed statue, a storm blew up. Bernard and Sayid steadied the sails while Rose steered and Jin kept the rudder stable

"Rose," Sayid yelled. "Rose, rocks!"

"I can't turn her," Rose replied, her voice nearly lost in the wind. The group kept working, trying to force the boat towards the sea and away from the rocks, but it was in vain. With a grinding, splintering crash, the ship ran aground. Almost as soon as this occurred, the storm began to subside and the wind let up. Jin and Sayid looked at each other.

"Others?" Jim questioned, and Sayid shrugged. They looked at the boat. It hadn't been completely wrecked, but there would definitely have to be work done before it would sail again, more work than they would have time to do before night fell.

The group decided to begin again on foot. There was some discussion of which way to set off. Sayid wanted to start at the Others' abandoned camp, but Bernard thought there would be no point since the Others weren't there. Sayid convinced him that he could track the Others better from a place they had been than from a random spot in the jungle, and the party began to walk.

Sayid took the lead, but Jin quickly caught up.

"We will get home?" He asked.

Sayid answered, "On this island, it cannot be certain, but I believe we will make it back to camp." Jin looked unconvinced.

"Sun, she is with…" he made a motion Sayid realized to mean 'child'.

"Yes, I understand. But she is alright. Claire and Charlie and Hurley are taking care of her.

"Are they good? On our side?" Jin wondered.

Sayid turned. "What do you mean, 'are they on our side?' Of course they are; we've known them for 60some days. We know they're good."

"We knew Michael was good." Sayid couldn't think of a reply, so he just nodded and continued walking.

Farther along the trail, Rose stopped. "It's getting dark," she commented. "What are our plans?" Sayid and Jin conversed for a short time and then Sayid said that they had two options. Either they could take shifts standing guard or they could go back to the boat and hope for safety on the beach. Rose and Bernard agreed to help keep watch and so they settled down in a clearing.

Bernard offered to take the first watch, but Rose refused to let him, saying "No sugar, I'm not tired anyway." Bernard looked worried, but he didn't argue, and soon Rose could hear his breathing slow down and become even. But Bernard wasn't asleep. He sat up late into the night, thinking about Rose.

_Bernard sat in a bar an hour before his wedding. He had been there for three hours, but had thankfully only drunk 2 beers. He was nervous. What if Rose changed her mind? He certainly wasn't good enough for her, what if she realized that and left him standing at the altar?_

_Then he realized that his thoughts were stupid. If Rose was sitting here, and he told her what he was thinking, she would laugh and tell him he was crazy. Then she would say "What are you doing in a bar on your wedding day? Is your girl so ugly you need a few to make her look good?" Bernard laughed, imagining this, said to himself "Not at all" and threw a bill on the counter. Then he left the bar and headed for the church._

When Rose's shift was over, she went to make wake Bernard up. He pretended to sleep and arose groggily. "My turn?" he inquired. She nodded and lay down. He walked to the edge of the clearing and looked out into the darkness. He could see nothing, but imagined something moving out of the black. He shuddered involuntarily. Sayid watched him with interest. Like Bernard, he had not gone to sleep during Rose's watch. He admired Bernard's attempts at courage. Sayid could see that Bernard was not a brave man, but he tried his best to be as brave as his wife. Sayid rolled over and looked at Jin. He was asleep. Sayid felt his eyes closing and let them. He would have his turn to stay awake soon enough.

Far away, much farther than the seekers could have guessed, two men and a woman dozed in a drug induced slumber. One of the men awoke slightly. His blonde hair fell over his face as he opened his eyes. He tried to move and found that his arms and legs were bound.

"Son of a…" he muttered, trailing off as he looked around. The room was small and sparsely furnished. It was more civilized than a cave, but barely.

The sedative had not quite worn off the man, so he closed his eyes again, not hearing the sharp report of gunfire outside as he drifted back into unconsciousness. The other two prisoners did not stir.

At the end of his shift, Bernard woke Sayid. Then he said, "Look, man. If you want to go back to sleep, just let me know. It wouldn't be good for the leader to be tired, right?"

Sayid replied, "It is not good for a leader to shirk his duties either." He took his place as the lookout.

_Sayid was very young when he first met Americans. Barely 6, he could not speak their language at all, nor understand it. _

_He watched them as they passed. Some of the older boys spat at their feet, but they took no notice. Sayid did not spit. He knew he must show respect to the visitors._

"_Why are they here?" he asked his fried._

"_They are the ambassadors," the friend said. "They're here to try to be friends with our country." _

"_Oh," said Sayid. "That doesn't sound bad. Why do the others spit?" His friend shrugged. Sayid turned back to watch the Americans enter a large building at the end of the street._

Morning came after Jin's shift. He woke the others. They packed what little they had brought and started off again.

Outside of the clearing, things looked different than the night before, or so it seemed. Bernard made a weak joke about Tolkien's moving forest, saying that maybe the voices they always heard at night were Ents, but Rose said that she thought they belonged to something more sinister.

They walked on.


End file.
